I need a new pair because my shitty cheap ones have broken. But I've never really done much with headphones, and I need a proper pair for gaming and general music listening to on my PC.

So who's got the lowdown on the skinny on the what's happening in the wide wide world of earwear?

I'm no expert or audiophile or anything, but I swear by Sennheiser when it comes to headphones.

Dunno what's both decent and currently available. I currently use a pair of Koss Porta Pro, they've had a number of incarnations and I don't know which one I'm using though they're probably all just about the same except one is a headset for Iphone talking - can't really recommend them though, they're okay but nothing spectacular, and they're much too small for my taste. I really liked my earlier Sennheiser HD 457, but they became glitchy after a lot of abuse and now I believe they're no longer produced.

Lady Gaga's Heartbeats are the prettiest. You are looking for the prettiest, right?

I do too.

I'm using a Sennheiser RS 180 thingy. It has served me well both in games and music. Once in Crysis 2 multiplayer people were calling me a cheater because I was just standing around and used a "aim at the source of the foot steps and shoot" tactic after getting bored of running into an ambush after another. The wirelessness is great when listening to music. Sound quality is good, and especially so for wireless headphones.

This. Been extremely happy with my HD555 for years now.

Ow, those are Headphones though, not headset, but great brand either way. For mic I actually use a table microphone Logitech USB thingie. Cheap and incredibly awesome with its noise suppresion :)

Since you're in US, newegg has these on sale for 45 bucks. I don't own them but from the pics, specs, and reviews it seems like a good deal.

I have a pair of Sennheiser PX 100 which are similar to the Koss Porta Pro. Both models have very good reviews on Amazon.

Sennheisers aren't the best, but they are damn good and likely good enough to require reripping ones entire MP3 collection. I'm fond of my Sennheiser HD 477 set, I think it's been discontinued, but the cost was pretty reasonable at the time.

If the OP is even contemplating this question he doesn't need Grados.

For earbuds I've grown fond of Shure, those will set you back quite a bit, and don't get my started on the really good ones that require the same fitting that's normally done for a hearing aid.

If you've got the money I highly recommend the G35s

http://www.logitech.com/en-us/gaming/headsets

7.1 sound, lightweight, not pinchy on the head or anything.

My friend who worked for a couple of local radio stations amongst other things always swore by Beyerdynamics. Under his advice I bought the pair he himself owned, low budget at £30 ish, that are by far the best I've ever owned, and some of the best I've heard.

The newest version of the ones I bought are on amazon.com (since you're in america) for $54.90

http://www.amazon.com/beyerdynamic-DT-235-Headphone-Black/dp/B00198BY48/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1304542692&sr=8-2



REMINDER: Any new set of headphones will need burned in for a while. Load up some music that stresses all the realms of music, crank the sound up a bit and go out to work or something. When you come back 6 hours or so later, they'll be ready for use (:

I bought the SR80 Grado Labs headphones and I think they are great. The only disadvantage is that they leak noise which is a problem if you wear them in public or at work.

If possible, test several headphones at a store and see what suits you best.

I use something called Phillips SHN5500 Noise Cancelling. It works wonders.

Don't noise cancellation headphones cost an arm and a leg?

I've had nothing but good experiences with them. I recommend them as well. Headphone review sites can help you find something good in your price range.